There are certain activities that don't leave room in the brain for the "monkey mind's" chatter. This chatter goes on constantly and keeps us from focusing and reacting in a pure way to our environment. Dancing, drumming, sex, chanting, and sports are great ways of quieting the monkey mind without passive meditation. These activities also give the extra bonus of boosting our spirits. When one learns to improvise dance, the feeling is indescribable. The secret to learning is to give your body a repertoire of movements to draw from; then find the music that inspires you. The goal is to allow your body to react, without thought, to the music. This is a pure thing. This is a joyous thing. This is an important life lesson. When the music hits you, you don't have time to consult your ego and ask it, "shall I pose with one arm up and do a little shimmy?" You let the music toss you around. Here are some important points to remember when you are striving to learn to improvise...
Always warm up. (Everyone without exception dances, plays sports, drums, and has sex better when they have warmed up!)
Practice even your basic exercises with music on.
Search the planet till you find music that makes you move.
Try to express emotion in your dance. Facing your audience with a frozen smile is not going to get you there.
Learn what you can from every dancer. Limiting yourself to one teacher will stick you with her style. Find your own style by experiencing every possible dance form.

Carla has just finished work on an instructional CD Rom that teaches zil technique. Information on that project can be found here. She is also working on a CD Rom entitled "Ecstatic Dance" which teaches improvisation.


home     index